Qu'elle était verte ma vallée

John Ford's film of social and familial change details the chilling effects hard economic times have on a large, but tight-knit Welsh coal mining family around the turn of the last century. Told in narrative flashback by the youngest of seven children (5 young men and a young lady) it begins when the coalmines are new, the valley still green, and the village cohesive and close-knit. As economic times worsen, the family and community fray and slowly disintegrate. The backdrop village becomes darker and smokier as the family fights valiantly to remain together. But unlike the treatment the story would probably get today, the family does not lose its dignity.

There is not much, if anything, to criticize in this movie, it's one of the best ever.

The story is told by an adult who remembers his childhood:Roddy McDowall gives a very sensitive performance in this part,he's simply the best actor of a topflight cast (to think that nowadays McDowall is remembered by the young generations mainly for his part of Cornelius the ape)All the scenes which involve the boy are simply wonderful,particularly the one with the daffodils (it 'd have been shot in color!),and the one with his father in his arms at the end.John Ford ,as usual , is a master when it comes to depict a small community who's got to stand together to survive.And he does not spare us the tragedies ,the bigotry ,the slander,but he adds humor,joie de vivre (the men,turning their nose on tea and wanting beer).

But sometimes it seems too good to be true:the boss's offspring marrying a miner's daughter,even when she's a beauty like Maureen O'Hara?The boss asking the poor father's permission?We are far from Emile Zola's "Germinal" :both stories happen about during the same era ,both with the miners' life both are radically different.Zola's world is a bleak,desperate world ,his depiction of the families' houses and meals (when there is food) and the pictures of Ford's movie are worlds apart.But the biggest difference is the omnipresence of the Lord's will:in "how green" the minister is a cool young handsome man (Pidgeon),in "Germinal" ,the priest's only a silhouette,but a selfish cruel one,unconcerned to man's plight:Zola's miners do not put their trust in a God anymore .

Wales and the east of France ,were they that much different?You can only say they were novels and movies,and reality is probably somewhere between them.

This film's legacy has been funneled down to "The Film That Shouldn't Have Beat Citizen Kane at the Oscars." This is a massive shame...yes, it skirts the technical experimentation and rampant cynicism of Kane, but it's sappy sentimentalism and moments of sweet humor are what make its more bitter critique of impersonal progress even more affecting. Ford was truly a master; he creates such a sense of place and community in this small mining town, and your heart breaks for their loss of innocence.

This movie is a little long at times, but this is still a powerful story about the many stories that came out of the coal mining families in Wales, Great Britain. One of the top aspects of the movie is the cinematography, under the direction of John Ford. It is very effective. You can just feel the grime and dirt of the mines and cobblestone town. It looks really good now that's it out on DVD.

Walter Pigeon is the likable minister, and lead character, "Mr. Gruffydd." He's likable because he doesn't judge people as the head deacon does. The latter is portrayed ludicrously by Barry Fitzgerald, much to the delight of secular-minded film critics, who loved his performance. Nonetheless, there is a lot of "religion" pictured positively in this film, a lot of spiritual scenes and most were done well.

Roddy McDowell plays the most memorable character, I thought: "Huw," a young boy who went through some really tough times, as did most of the townsfolk.

If you are used to modern films, be warned this film does drag in spots. It is a fine movie, to be sure, and a powerful and emotional story.

There has been a tendency to downgrade How Green Was My Valley recently because it beat out Citizen Kane for Best Picture of 1941. It turned out to be John Ford's only win in that department. Because Citizen Kane now is lauded as the best film EVER, How Green Was My Valley lost a bit of luster. Yet on its own merits it's a fine film and can be seen again and again without any boredom.

It's like Ford's Liberty Valance in that it shows the progress that the world's first industrial society, 19th century Great Britain as reflected in that Welsh valley, just like the settling of the American West in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It's the reverse here, the valley is a place people leave, or at least a lot of the good ones. Nearly all the Morgan children and Walter Pidgeon who plays the minister.

1941 and 1942 marked the high point in the career of Walter Pidgeon. He never quite made the top rung of actors at his home studio of MGM. Yet in those two years he happened to star in both the films the Academy designated as Best Picture, this one and Mrs. Miniver in 1942. He's an outsider, arriving full of ideals and then forced to leave to stop gossip about him and Maureen O'Hara.

Maureen O'Hara made her John Ford debut in How Green Was My valley as the lovely and fetching Angharad. She and Pidgeon are in love, but Pidgeon does not want to inflict is life of denial on her. They give each other up and later their relationship is the cause of gossip.

Arthur Shields the lesser known brother of Barry Fitzgerald is the head of the deacons at Pidgeon's church. A narrow, bitter man he's one of a string of religious hypocrite characters that Ford has in his films. Offhand I can think of Willis Bouchey in The Last Hurrah and Grant Withers in Fort Apache. Barry's in this too, playing the comical Cynfartha.

The center of the film is the Morgan family headed by Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood. Playing Morgan patriarch Gwyllym Morgan, Crisp gets the Best Supporting Actor for this wonderful portrayal of strength and dignity. Sara Allgood matches him every step of the way.

Besides Pidgeon and O'Hara, the rest of the film revolves around the generational conflicts between the conservative father and his more broadminded sons who want to get a union started. In 1941 America that was a timely theme as our American Labor movement got its first backing from a friendly government in the New Deal. The labor troubles that the Morgans and the other Welsh coalminers in the valley deal with was a very relevant.

One of the great things about this is that Ford never takes sides here. Donald Crisp is never shown as a reactionary fool for his opposition to unionization. Indeed Ford puts him on a pedestal for sticking to his beliefs.

All this is seen through the eyes of young Hugh Morgan, played by Roddy McDowall in his first major part as a juvenile and narrated in flashback by British actor Irving Pichel as the adult Hugh. McDowell has his own troubles here, he and Sara Allgood fall in a freezing river and both have health problems afterward. McDowell is the first of the Morgans to go to school and he's bullied by both pupils and a snobbish teacher. Young McDowell is taught to box by Rhys Williams to take care of the kids and later Rhys Williams as Dai Bando, an ex-pugilist takes matters in his own hands with the teacher in the films most hilarious scene.

As we move into the post industrial age, the labor themes of How Green Was My Valley seem quaint. But the family travails, and heartaches, and triumphs with that 19th Century Welsh Coalmining family are timeless. This is the real genius of John Ford.